Members of the Salt Lake Dream Team visited the staff of Sen. Mike Lee Friday, calling for immigration reform that includes a direct and humane path to citizenship.

SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Salt Lake Dream Team visited the staff of Sen. Mike Lee Friday, calling for immigration reform that includes a direct and humane path to citizenship.

"What we are asking for is comprehensive reform that is inclusive and gives 11 million undocumented individuals a path to citizenship," said Itza Hernandez, a member of the youth-oriented immigration rights group.

Dream Team members spent an hour behind closed doors with two Lee staff members to discuss the senator's position on immigration reform and to share their personal stories to underscore their efforts to make reform a reality.

Hernandez, who recently visited Lee's office in Washington, D.C., as well as Sen. Orrin Hatch's staff, said there is definite momentum for federal immigration reform.

Immigration reform, which "explicitly benefits the undocumented lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community" is a priority, she said.

"I think it's the new civil rights movement. It's history in the making," she said. "They (members of Congress) need to choose the right side of history."

Following the meeting, team members unfurled two banners in front of the federal building that read "Inclusive reform now" and "11 million dreams on hold."

The Salt Lake Dream Team is working in concert with national immigration reform organizations in their lobbying efforts.

Bryan Gutierrez, another Dream Team member, said the conversation about immigration reform shifted after the November election, when Latinos broadly supported the re-election of Barack Obama.

"Demographics are definitely changing," Gutierrez said.

Speaking for himself, Gutierrez said immigration reform must include a clear path for citizenship for undocumented people in the United States.

"Some people tell me they would be OK if they just got the right to work," he said.

All undocumented people have a stake in federal immigration reforms, Gutierrez said, but undocumented youths especially need clarity about their futures. "There's all this talent here and it's going to waste," he said.

Mostly, the nation needs immigration reform to put an end to the stress and anxiety undocumented individuals experience in their daily lives, Gutierrez said.

Popular Comments

What bothers me about this whole immigration issue is that the state and federal
governments along with all of us that were either born in this country or
immigrated here legally are now the bad guys because we don't welcome all
of these
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4:23 p.m. March 16, 2013

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Kearns, UT

You want humane immigration reform? Ok then, follow the law. Do what the law
requires.

These people are asking for mercy without fulfilling the
requirements of justice. They go hand in hand. One does not work without the
other.More..

11:29 a.m. March 17, 2013

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Cottonwood Heights, UT

I am sure that Senator Lee, and most other Utahns would be a lot more receptive
to pleas for "humane immigration reform" if there were first some
interest in demanding that everyone coming to the U.S. obey our laws.